Automatic car-brake



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Gf. T. GlFFoRD.

AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.

No. 350,128. Patented 001;. 5, 1886.v

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. T. GIFFORD.

AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.

No. 350,128. Patented Oct. 5, 1886.

NTTED STATES PATENT Orifice.

GEORGE T. GIFFORD, OF OOLEBROOK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO A.. A. (.HAPMAN, OF TARE-Fn.T COUNTY, ILTilNOlS.

AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

LEECEPCATIONforming parl; of Letters Patent No. 350,128, dated October 5,1986.

Application llell May l, 1886. Serial Xo. 200,7l. (o model.)

YTo (all '107mm it may concern:

lle it known that I, GnoReE T. GllvifonD, ot (.folebl-ook. ill the county ot' \\f'arren and State ol' illinois, have invellted eertain newand useful Improvements ill Autonlatic Railway-Cal.- Brakes, of which the following is a description, referenee being had tothe aceonlpallying drawings, ill which- Figure l is a side view ol' a portion ot' a freighttrain alld loeolnotivc. Fig. 2 is a centl-al. longitudinal vertical seetional view Ot' a` freight-car, the saine being broken ill vlength and having the box l'enloved to show the novel features enlarged. Fig. 3 is a like view ot' :t part of a ear, sllowillgstnne ot' the parts in. different positions. Fig. 4 is a plan view, ill detail, showing the nleehallisln l'Ol antonlaticallybrakingthe ears ill the evellt ol' the breakage ot' the coupling; alld Fig. 5 is all elld view, indetail, ot'said device.

Like letters of Aret'el.'ellce indieate like parts ill the di lt'erent lignres.

rIlle objeet of illy illvelltioll is to provide an autonlatie ear-brake for railwayears wllieh. nlay be cheap :in construction and silnple ill its operation, and .ill which the inertia of the ear may be utilized ill setting the sallle llllder llornlaleollditions, means being provided for prevelltillg the alltolnatie aetion ol' said brake llllell the same is not needed.

A further objeet is to eallse said brake to aet antonlatieallyin the event ol' one or nlore ears becoming nncoupled l'ronl the trainv by accident or otherwise. all ot'whiell is llereinat'ter nlore particularly described, alld delllitely jl'lointed out .inthe elailns.

In tlledrawillgsisshownanordinal-yfreight`- ear, to the body or bed A 0l.' wlliell illy inlproved deviee is attached.

Support ed insnitable bearings ill suspended braekets b bt, attached rigidly to tlle bottoni of tlle ear, I place at each end. 0l.' said ear and extendingin opposite direetiolls a` pllsll-bal.', B, the same being t'reeto nlove longitur'linally ill its bearings, except that .it is held Ynorn'lally ill an extended position, as clearly shown ill Fig. 2, by nleans ot' a spiral spring, If'. \Vllen said bal.' is normally extended, as stated, the end shollldproieet beyond that ot' the 'usual draw-bar, (l, so as to normally abut against the, end of a corresponding'push-bar upon the ear in. Yt'ront or .rear thereof, as the case may be. Said pllsh-bar B is provided witll all. enlarged hollow portion or box, b, into the interior elld 0f wllieh is loosely projected a bar, C, pivotally connected to one illelnber of a kllee-h'joint', D, the other lllenlberot which is pivoted withill saidbox Zf. The opposite elld of the balI C is pivotally conlleeted to an eceentrie, E, suspended l'roln the frame-work ofthe car and loosely seellred tllereto .in any approved inanner, as by a bolt, c. Said knee-joint D is nornlally straight, being so retained by its own gravit-y and the aetion ol.' the spring If" and Stop e, whieh hold it ill. alignment with the bar O, so that wllell ill said nornlal condition a` pressure, upon the bar B in the direction ot' the eccentric E will serve to aetllate said ee` eelltrie. A lug or projeetion, (l, is attached to one menlberof said knee-joint,andis extended downwardly through aslot iin the box 1),as clearly shown ill thel drawings. whieh assists by .its gravity ill retaining said knee-joint ill a straight lille, but the special purpose ol' which will be hereinafter nlore t'ully stated.

Attaehed, preleral ly,to eaeht'rllelebolster F. I provide a bl.'al e.le\'er lulel'unl, to whieh is loosely bolted a bralce-lever, G, the upper elld ot' whieh is provided witll a 't'lietion-roller, y, :i l1 engagement with the eeeelltrie E. rlhe lower elld ot' said lever is eollneeted with a brakerod, g, connected with. thebrake-bealnsin any approved .nlanner, but pl-elerably with a see ondarybrakelever, G', the l'ulerunl y otl which is attaelled to the brake-beam r/t, the opposite elld of said lever being connected with a seeolldary brake-rod, g, conneeting with the opposite brake-beam, said brakebeams being provided with. brakebloeks g', suspelnled ill the usual way t'ronl the car-bmly.

Snspelnled or loosely supported ill suitable brackets, 7l?, one ot whiell is best shown in Fig. i), I provide stil-rolls H at the respective ends of eaeh ear, which straddle the bars I3, ille ends being vt'lee to nlove .ill the are ot' aeirclc. The Yupper ends ol' said stirrllps are connected with eaeh other by means ot.' a rod. Il, loosely attached thereto, while to the lower ends ot' each is loosely attaehed a. horizontal bar, J'. which :is sustained loosely alld is i'ree to reciprocate ill a bearing ill the bracket il, said balbeillg placed .ill such. relai ioll to the lug or trigger d lthat when reciprocated by reason of its connection with the stirrupthe bar J is raised, thus slightly tilting the kneejoint D, so that upon a backward pressure-oi' the bar B said knee-joint will be tilted still i'arther and fail to aetuate the bar G and eccentric E. It is desirable that the stirrups H II shall remain normally in a vertical position, and I therefore prefer to pivot them in the middie, and to make the bars J J ot' substanti ally the Ysaine weight as the connecting-rod 71,' so that their inertia, upon suddenly starting or stopping the car, may be counterbalanced by that of said rod, though itis obvious that the .stirrup may be pivoted at a point above its middle, provided the top is weighted in a corresponding proportion. As a further means i'or retaining said stirrups in a normallyr vertical position, I pivot to the earslls at h', Fig. 2, a bar, 7b2, which is loosely bolted to the rod `h, and serves to prevent the latter from sagging. Said bar if has rigidly attached thereto a cross-bar, ht, to one end ot' which is attached Aa weight, h, and to the opposite end a spiralv spring, h. Asthe rod l1 is moved longitudinally the weight hi is raised or the spring h brought under tension, and when the abnormal pressure upon the rod h is released the rod is, by the constant tendency ot' said spring and Weight, brought back to its normal position, as shown in Fig. 2. A horizontal bar, K, Fig. l,

' sustained in loose bearings, is placed beneath of the engine is impeded.

the tender, and is connected with the lower end of a leverin the engine-cab and under the control of the engineer, the outer 'end of said bar abutting against the end ot' the bar J, so that upon moving said lever all ot' said knee-joints -throughout the entire train may be tilted, as

described. A buffer-block, B, Fig. 1, is attached to the tender beneath the draw-bar, so that the bar B ot the ear attached to said tender may abut against the same when the motion Loosely pivoted beneath the car to a pin or stud, m, Figs. 4. and 5, attached, preferably, to a block, m, secured rigidly to one ot' the drafttimbers, is a horizontal lever, M, which is extended laterally i'rom the bar B, and the inner end of which is in contact with thc shoulder formed by the enlargement of said bar, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, so that the bar Bmay be pushed back by pulling forward upon the opposite end of the lever. A chain., mi, is permanently attached to the next car, Fig. et, and is hooked upon the .outer end ofthe lever M, which is made sufficiently Ahook-shaped to retain the same when in its normal position, but will slip off when the lever is drawn forward thereby. At the same time the opposite end of said lever presses the bar B back until the end of the bar M is brought into engagement with a bevel, Z, upon the box Z1, when the movement of the bar M ceases and the bar .B is locked in its backward position thereby,

and so retained until the bar M is pushed back, when the spring Nici-ces the bar B back to its original position.

Having thus described the several elements of my invention, I will now proceed to describe its operation. Assuming a train equipped with said brakes to be in motion, and the several parts in the respective normal positions shown in Fig. 2, upon impeding the motion ofthe engine, the buffer-block B upon the tender is caused to push back upon the pushbar B, and the knee-j oint D, being preserved in a rstraight line by, as stated, the bar C, is caused to act upon the eccentric E, which in turn acts upon the brake-lever G and sets the brake, the operation being repeated throughout the train as fast as the forward ears tend to impede the motion of those behind. the engineer desire to decrease the speed o't' his engine without applying the brakes, he can do so by operating the lever L, which pushes back the bar J and tiltsthe knee-joint in connection therewith. This motion is transferred by the rod h vto the opposite end of the car, and is thusrepeated throughout the train. lf the brakes are applied to a train, the starting` of the engine, or an increase oi' speed, it'

vit is in motion, serves to release them. In ease the coupling breaks in any part of the train, thclever M is drawn out by theehain mi, which actuates the push-bar in the car to which it is attached, and applies the brakes upon that and all. the cars behind, leaving them locked until the lever Mis released. lever L the train may be backed without at'- i'ecting the brakes. rIhus it is obvious that the operation of the brakes oi" the entire train are under the control of the engineer, who is enabled to xnanipulatethem at will. As no coupling is required in said system, its praeticability is apparent. The convenience ol' switching is greatly enhancedin short, the many and important advantages of which. it is possessed are at once suggested to those familiar with railway appliances upon the explanation of its operation. t y

I am familiar with the patentto B. L. Stowe,

No. 272,097, and I make no claim to the special. i'eature described therein.

What I dov claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isd

l. An auto matic ear-brake consisting ot'push,` bars at the respective ends ot' the ear, means, as spiral springs, for normally extending the outer ends o't' the same, respectively, in substantially the same transverse plane with the ends of the draw-bar, eccentries bearing upon Should By operating the IOO IIO

the ends of brake-levers having suitable conneetions with the brake-beams, j ointed connections between said eccentrics and push-bars, and means, as a buffer-block, for producing a backward pressure of said push-bars and for abnormally tilting the joints oi' said connecting-bars, substantially as and :for the purposes set forth. n

2. In an automatic car-brake, the combination ot' one or more p ush-bars looselysupported lengthwise of and beneath the car, one or more eceentrics bearing upon the end of one or more brake-levers having the usual con necti ons with the brake-beams, said eccentric or eecentrics being connected, respectively, by a rigid bar and knee-joint With said push-bar, a spring for extending said push bar 'or bars toward the end or ends of the car, and a buftbr-block for producing a backward pressure upon said pushbar upon ii'npeding the motion of the engine, substantial] y as described, and for the purposes specified.

3. The combination, with a railway-car, of the push-bar B, provided with a spring, b`, for holding the Same normally in an extended position for engaging a butter nponacar coupled therenf'ith, an eccentric pivoted to the bed ot' the ear and bearing upon the end of a brakelever .having suitable rod-connections withthe brake-beams. a bar connecting said eccentric with the pnshbar by ay knee -joint, D, and means, as the stirrup H and trigger d, l'or tilting said knee-joint, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

ll.. The combination of the bar B, provided with a spring, for normally extending the same, eccentric E, bearing upon the end ot' a brake-lever, and means for connectingthesame to the brakebeams, bar i. connected by the g knee-io'nt D to the pushbar, means, as the l trigger d, stirrup H, and bar J for tilting said lever-joint, and :i suitable lever and detached or disconnected mechanism, as :t bar, K, for pushing said bar J, substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. The combination, with a ear,of the pushbars B B, having springs I2 b2, eccentrics EE, bearing upon brake-levers G G, connected with the brake beams ot' their respective trucks, bars C C, connecting said eeeentries and pnslr bars, respectively, by means otknee-joints 1') D, having triggers d, bars J J, stirrups H H, connected by a rod, lt, and means, as aspring, l'or :retainingl said rod in a. normalv position.

6. In an automatic ear-brake, the combina` tion, with a suitable push-bar and mechanism, substantially as deseribez'l, for setting the brakes, of a pivoted lever, M, and means, as a chain attached to the adjoining forward car, l'or detaehably connecting with said lever, substantially as described, and i'or the purposes set forth.

('HCO'RGE 1. GIFFORD.

Witnesses: H. THIEME,

H. W. PARKER. 

